A hopeful season for North Atlantic right whales

We know what's holding this species back. The leading threats-vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear-are well-documented, and preventable. Since 2017, right whales have been in what NOAA calls an Unusual Mortality Event. Over 20% of the known population has been killed or seriously injured during this time.

Rather than let these challenges overshadow the good news, we can let them drive us to do more. The whales are surviving against the odds. This season proves that when given the chance, they can thrive.

The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) has been a bedrock environmental law since 1972. It protects all marine mammals in US waters, and it's no exaggeration to say it has helped prevent extinction and restore populations in more than one case-including for North Atlantic right whales.

But US lawmakers are now considering a draft reauthorization of the MMPA that would undo five decades of progress. If passed, it would make it harder to protect whales from threats like entanglement and vessel strikes. It would shift the burden of proof onto scientists and conservationists and tilt the balance away from precaution and toward industry priorities.

A weakened MMPA would make saving whales harder at the very moment they are showing us they're ready to rebound. We can't let that happen.